Cotton Jones tours after wrapping up Paranoid Cocoon

photo by Adam Voith

It's been a wild and woolly few years for Michael Nau, the Maryland mountaineer and songwriter behind Cotton Jones (formerly Cotton Jones Basket Ride) and the now-shuttered Page France.

After a thimbleful of releases and a signing to Suicide Squeeze, Nau called Page France quits last year. He explained in a statement: "Part of my brain has been collaborating with Cotton Jones for the past three years."

And indeed, he and fellow former PF bandmate Whitney McGraw have already released two EPs (as Cotton Jones Basket Ride) on Quite Scientific, with a third on the way sometime in '09. The duo's first full-length album, the sweetly sleepy Paranoid Cocoon, emerged Jan. 27 on Suicide Squeeze.

Nau and McGraw recently stopped by the Daytrotter studios to play a few tunes from Paranoid Cocoon (and one from the excellent Archery EP). In a perfect world, Cotton Jones would play back porches and bonfires across the country, but they'll stick to venues this go-round in an opening slot for labelmates (and Islands spin-off project) Human Highway.

Tour dates (all shows with Human Highway and The Magic, unless otherwise noted):